As we cross the year’s half-way point, a clearer picture is beginning to emerge, as to what the remainder of 2023 (and beyond) might have in store for the UK housing market.
Currently, buyer demand remains at a resilient 3% above the last normal market of 2019, and with price sensitivity having also reverted to pre-pandemic levels, homebuyer and seller expectations are beginning to make a departure from the ‘artificial’ levels set during these unprecedented few years.
Looking ahead, there are corners of the South East market especially, that look to remain buoyed by the sentiment of optimism and confidence that long-termism, and the property market’s long-spanning history of 'bouncing-back', seems to be providing.
Currently in Maidenhead, specifically, there is a competition-boosting shortage of high quality properties, and it is this supply/demand disparity (combined with the more pragmatic pricing of late) that is helping the up-and-coming commuter town to buck the national ‘downturn’ trend.
Admittedly, transactions are proving slightly slower to complete (the average time to sell was 21 days longer this April than it was in 2022), with smaller/mid-size homes faring best on the saleability scale, as buyer budgets calibrate to the current climate.
What this means, is that properties such as this four bedroom detached family home (main photo above), are attracting more demographics of buyer than perhaps would have been the case previously.
Located in a sought-after location, within walking distance of the town centre and mainline railway station (Paddington/Elizabeth Line), the property features a generous living room with feature fireplace, dining room opening into a TV/Family room with direct access out on the rear garden, study, and modern kitchen. There is also scope to erect a garage/annexe with rear access (STPP), the power and water supply for which is already provided.
Summary
Weighing the fluctuating forecasts, against the backdrop of relative market resilience so far this year, today’s buyers are understandably ambivalent.
On the whole, however, the outlook appears to be a nuanced - but not entirely negative - picture, as the educated guesses of industry experts allude not just to the historically finite nature of market challenges such as these, but also the inalienable dividends of a bricks and mortar ‘asset’, in the long term.
Mindful of this, and the likelihood of a gradual return to a 'normal' market in the years to come, those who are able to do so might find it a retrospectively good decision to offset today's reductions in buying power, with either a longer mortgage, or by injecting more equity into the property purchase.
For more details on the above property, or similar in the Maidenhead area, please email property@braxtons.co.uk